Many people try to take leadership positions in college to build up their resumes and get involved. Some students decide to go above and beyond that and take leadership positions within leadership positions, which is exactly what our campus celebrity of the week, Julia Medinger, decided to do.
Being a regular resident assistant (RA) wasn’t cutting it for her. She wanted to do all she could do for students, so she decided to go above and beyond the “call of duty” her senior year and commit to being a Head RA!
Every student that lives in a Drexel residence hall has an RA who they look up to, whether it is for personal advice or as a resource to direct them to something they need. RAs are looked at as someone the students can use to help them along their college growth. But, who do the RAs look to when they need help themselves?
Head Resident Assistants, also known as HRAs, are the leaders amongst the leaders. They are returning RAs that have at least one year under their belt that the Residential Living Office (RLO) sees as an exceptional leader that the new and returning RAs can use as a “point person.”
Julia is a prime example of what an HRA is supposed to be. She has residents who love her, like normal RAs, plus she does extra. “I handle a lot of administrative aspects like agendas, acting as a liaison between our boss and the staff, and I hold the staff accountable for things we need to do. I also think of myself as more of a mentor to our staff and a resource for questions,” Julia said.
Julia has played a very active role in several incoming students first year experience. Julia was an Orientation Leader the Summer of 2011, which made her want to get more involved in student life and prompted her to apply to be an RA her sophomore year.
“My first year as an RA was my pre-junior year. I wanted to make an impact on the freshmen’s first year experience by mentoring them and trying to give them my great first year experience. It gives me the satisfaction that I am helping others and I am guiding and making someone’s college experience better by pointing them in the right direction,” Julia said.
Calhoun in particular holds a special place in Julia’s heart. When she was an OL, her boss was Ashley Jones who just so happens to be the Resident Director of Calhoun. She loves the dynamic of the building and has a great staff to work with.
When she is not busy with the residents of the fifth floor, she plays club field hockey and intramural soccer, watches Netflix and Lifetime movies, goes to food trucks, and explores different recipes for food she can make. Her dream is to one day open up a cute, authentic, family-owned Italian restaurant. She loves to cook and is good at it, too! Although she originally wanted to go to school for culinary, she is happy as an accounting and finance major because it will give her the business knowledge she needs to run her restaurant.
If you’re interested in becoming a part of the RLO team and possibly becoming an HRA one day, you can find more information on the Student Affairs website. When asked if Julia thinks being an RA has changed her Drexel experience, she said, “Yes. It made it 100% better.”